WeatherBeaten
by In.Light.Syrup
Summary: In a dark, wartorn future, Naruto, more known as ANBU Captain Oni, is trying to balance his life between the ANBU and keeping his identity safe. And no, not the identity of Kyuubi, but of his identity as Uzumaki Naruto, who died 7 years ago. / Sasunaru /
1. Prologue

Weather-beaten _adj_

**1. **Showing signs of exposure to the weather

**2. **Tanned or hardened by exposure to the weather

_**- - - - - - - - - - ~Weather Beaten~ - - - - - - - - -  
**__Day 0  
__Prologue  
__(And the Sun Sets)_

A single small figure dangled over the Hokage Mountainside, one leg dangling over the railing and a single white flower hanging limply in his hand, fluttering in the slight breeze.

Shadowed eyes stared down at the rows of black crowding around the coffin, merely a small black speck down below. The angry grey clouds rumbled ominously above. It was raining but he didn't care. The water dripped into his eyes, and drenched his black clothes, but he_ didn't care. _

Nimble fingers twirled the white flower in his hand thoughtfully. At first, he had planned to go to the funeral. He was suppose to have met up with Sakura on the way.

The roads have been empty as he had began walking there, and as he went passed the tall, tall stairway leading up to the Hokage Mountain, he just had a sudden urge to skip the funeral and climb up there.

He just didn't… care anymore.

The Sandaime was dead. It was a shock to him. He had always been Hokage, before he was even born, and the idea of him gone was.. strange.

_But the Sandaime's death isn't the reason why my heart is pounding. Why my chest fucking hurts like as if I was being stabbed viciously over and over and over again… _

And Shikamaru… Shikamaru was dead. Wasn't he suppose to be some sort of genius with a 200 something IQ? Why did he of all people die?

_Why.. What is this feeling…?_

The figure looked up. The rain was finally letting out. He tried to get up but to his annoyance, his legs only twitched. And suddenly, like a light was flicked on, he was suddenly aware of how cold his body felt. His legs were fully numb. The feeling tingled painfully up and down his limbs.

_Shit.. How long have I been up here?_

Resigned, he sat back down and watched the funeral process from above here. The black dots were going one by one by the casket, probably dropping their flowers and giving the Sandaime and all the fallen their last respects. Then, one by one, they left, one black speck after another.

The longer he looked at them, the more the _(desperate, desperate) _anger grew in him. Until his fists clenched painfully into the palm of his skin, and the stem of the flower nearly broke in half. The thought of getting worked up over such a stupid, stupid reason, didn't occur to him. He didn't care that black was the colour of mourning.

He had a strange, almost absurd thought that Naruto would've liked his funeral to be orange.

Sasuke felt a bubble of laughter erupt from his throat, and he didn't stop himself. He laughed and laughed and _laughed,_ until tears pricked his eyes but he wouldn't let them fall because he hasn't cried since he was seven, and he didn't stop before he dimly realized that he must look really crazy right now.

_But he was _mourning_, wasn't he? This pain was _normal_, wasn't it?_

And somehow, somehow, all of this was because of Naruto. The dobe. The deadlast. The stupid orange-wearing idiot who didn't just worm his way into his life, but kicked the door down, screaming all the way, tackled him into the ground, and became his best friend.

He had thought about the scene over and over in his head. Naruto had told him to protect Sakura before he went off to battle Gaara. Alone.

_He should've been there. God, he should've been there. _

A few flashes of killer intent. Enough to make his blood freeze. A giant frog. The Kyuubi..

The last thing he remembered was the doctors, looking down at him with such _pitying_ eyes, and then..

...nothing.

He didn't know when things started to go wrong. He was supposed to be an avenger. It was a lonely path but he had chosen it. Friendship was something trivial, because no matter how nice it was, it would one day end. By either time.... or his own hands.

_And all I can feel this emptiness, this desperate hopelessness, this lack of something that I never even knew I had._

Sasuke closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against his knee.

He didn't know how long he had stayed up there, how long he had just sat down, blank of all thoughts. But it must've been hours, because when he opened his eyes again, the sun was setting.

A moment of complete silence, the once clear blue sky burning a glorious orange _(orange.) _hue before…

_Darkness. _

The flower dropped from his lifeless hands, and slipped off onto a long road to the ground.

_**- - - - - - - - - ~WB~ - - - - - - - - - **_

"I'm quitting being a ninja."

The sentence shot out at him, and his eyes widened despite himself. He turned back to Sakura, who had stopped in the middle of the road, her messy pink hair hiding her eyes.

A long silence.

"Good. You weren't meant for it anyway."

Sasuke turned away from Sakura and walked off. And for the first time, she didn't follow him.

* * *

* * *

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**(And somewhere, deep in ROOT Headquarters, on a small cot in a dark room, clear blue eyes snapped open)**

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N**

Yes. I know how this must look. Stupid author writes a story, doesn't update for MONTHS, and comes back with a new story.

I would like to say that, no, "Tribute to Memory," is definitely NOT being discontinued.

Funny thing is, I began this chapter, fully determined to finish the next chapter of TTM, and somehow.. I got this.

Weather-Beaten is a oneshot.. For now. It depends on the reader response, I don't want to waste time on a sucky story. (Although I might post it anyway…)

**Rated T for language, use of alchohol, gore, and implied sexual scenes. **

For more info, check my profile.

~L. Syrup


	2. Overcast

Overcast _adj_

**1. With clouds: **covered with or full of clouds

**2. Resembling clouds: **having the appearance of clouds

**3. Troubled: **seeming troubled or gloomy

**4. Not clear: **obscure or difficult to understand

_**- - - - - - - - - ~Weather Beaten~- - - - - - - - -  
**__Day 1  
__Overcast  
__(Seven Years Later)_

It was rainy season in Konoha. Dark clouds streaked across the sky, blocking the view of the sun and encasing Konoha in large shadows.

Down in the marketplace, people hurried by to do their errands, clutching umbrellas in one hand while holding their bags in another. One would think that such people would be too busy to notice a particularly shadowy figure jumping gracefully across the rooftops. After all, shinobi pass by all the time.

But this figure wasn't an ordinary shinobi.

Bone-white armour covering a tight black bodysuit, a long, thin katana strapped onto his back, a blood red tattoo on his left shoulder, and the long midnight black cloak of an ANBU Captain trailing behind his shoulders.

If the rare, startling sight of an ANBU wasn't frightful enough, it was the mask that's the real kicker.

Curved, slitted openings for eyeholes, and a painted large grin with two curved horns poking through the long canine teeth.

Oni, the laughing demon, and argueably the most famous ANBU Captain of all of Konoha.

_**- - - - - - - - - ~WB~ - - - - - - - - -**_

Naruto was late.

Cursing colourfully in his head, he leaped absentmindedly across the rooftops, donning his mask with one hand. He grimaced at a particularly unsteady landing, jolting the arm held close to his side.

It still hasn't fully healed yet from last night's mission. Even Naruto had to admit that a god-like ability like the damn kyuubi's fast-healing couldn't fully heal a deep wound overnight. Especially an arm nearly hacked off by a grief-crazed enemy-nin waving around a poisonous katana. (Don't ask.)

People stared openly at him from below the streets as he leaped past, their heads whipping so fast that he was almost surprised that they didn't get whiplash. Naruto's skin prickled underneath their brief stares, and even though he kept my eyes in front of me, he still felt the fear and horror lingering in their eyes.

Pushing chakra through his feet, Naruto quickly picked up speed before making another leap through the rooftops, landing soundlessly on the rooftops of the Hokage Tower. A stray strand of inky black hair fell into his eyes, which he pushed back irritably before jumping into an opened window.

A long time ago, he would've lamented the loss of his blonde hair, which Naruto had mercilessly dyed black after too many close calls because of its shockingly bright colour.

But then again, that was a long time ago.

Straightening up, Naruto looked coolly to the only other figure in the room, leaning almost casually against the wall next to the door.

"You're late," Snake stated flatly, shifting slightly.

Naruto flipped him the bird curtly before plopping ungracefully into a chair, dutifully ignoring the holier-than-thou glare he gave me in return.

Snake was the reason why Oni was 'argueably' the most famous ANBU Captain. He had a known reputation for his ruthless and unexpected assasination missions, hence why Snake was the ANBU Captain of the Assasination Squad. A mask of a leering snake, with slitted eyes even more narrower than my own, two painted slits for nostrils, and a long forked tongue peeking out from a small mouth, was worn over a narrow face. Long raven black bangs fell into his eyes, and spiked at the back of his head.

Snake hated Oni, to be blunt. He hated the fact that Oni was 'favoured' by the _dear Hokage-sama_, and he hated him because Oni was always just slightly stronger than him. Not that that made him too much of a bastard, Naruto got on his nerves just as much as he did to him.

It didn't help that Snake's identity was well-known in the shinobi world as the oh-so-revered Uchiha Sasuke, last of the Uchiha clan, an ex-traitor, and, once, Naruto's teammate and best friend.

…_Once._

Naruto twitched slightly when they both felt the burning of our ANBU tattoos; the Hokage-sama's preferred method for calling up specific ANBU. Snake immediately shifted away from the wall while Naruto simultaneously got up from the chair.

Their shoulders collided painfully as they both reached the exit door at the same time, and Naruto grimaced under his mask as the movement sent another throb of pain through his arm.

"_Watch it, Uchiha_." Naruto snarled, pushing past him.

Naruto had less than a split-second warning, -a quiet clink of metal, and a whooshing movement behind his back- before he reacted with startling speed, grabbing the kunai where it stopped two inches from his face. To his slight surprise, the kunai erupted in a sudden crackle of dancing blue sparks, shocking his hand and numbing his fingertips.

Ah, lightning element.

Bastard.

Snake brushed past Naruto silently, a winning smirk on his face _(Don't ask how I could tell, I just can)._

Naruto briefly contemplated the pros and cons of throwing the kunai at the back of his head, say, with an extra spin of wind chakra to knock him off his feet, before grudgingly following him.

The walk was short and mercifully silent. But just as they arrived at the Hokage's office, the door abruptly opened, and out walked another ANBU.

Owl was taller than Naruto, with slightly hunched shoulders and long hair tied into a low ponytail. He nodded at them in recognition.

"Hokage-sama is expecting you now," he drawled.

The two walked in.

The Hokage's office was a large spacious room with tall, clear glass windows behind the office desk. Nearly all of Konoha could be seen from the windows.

The Hokage was seated on a chair in front of his desk, one bandaged hand rested firmly on a cane on his left, and the other hand ruffling through some papers. A shiver racked Naruto's body when he felt the penetrating stare of the Hokage fixed on him, and he let his eyes drift to the floor. The Hokage's single dark eye looked down at Naruto for a few more tense seconds before he looked away, amused.

Danzou, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure.

"Hokage-sama," Snake and Oni said in unison, bowing low.

"Snake, I take it that your last mission was successfully?" Danzou asked slowly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Snake said at once.

Danzou nodded in satisfaction. He wordlessly held out a small brown file, which Snake quickly took. Later on, Snake would leaf through the file, his sharingan absorbing all the info, before burning the papers, destroying the evidence.

There was a brief pause, when Snake hesitated, as if waiting for more orders. When he got none, he straightened up, realizing a dismissal, before bowing again and leaving out the door.

As he passed Naruto, Snake shot him a glare that he ignored.

The door closed, leaving Naruto alone with the Hokage. Immediately, the atmosphere in the room shifted. Danzou folded his hands in front of his face, a cold and disgusted expression on his face.

"Mission report," Danzou commanded.

Behind his mask, Naruto schooled his face into a blank emotionless expression.

"A-rank targets were eliminated successfully." Naruto paused. "Three witnesses, eliminated successfully. The village does not suspect a thing. Mission finished smoothly."

There was a rustle of papers, and Naruto looked up as Danzou threw a file at him. It skidded on the floor before landing in front of his feet.

"I expect this mission to be finished by tonight, jinchuuriki." Danzou said, already busying himself with the papers on his desk. "Now get out of my sight."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Flushing slightly, Naruto hastily picked up the mission file with his good hand and bowed low before leaving out the door.

As Naruto walked through the hallways, he ignored the open stares passerbys gave his, letting his thoughts drift. His mouth curled up into a grim smile. Honestly, Danzou freaked him out. Three years of intensive ANBU training in his presence could do that to a person.

Snake was jealous of how Naruto was favoured by Danzou. But he was only 'favoured' because, unknown to most people, Oni was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. With the demon's chakra, Naruto's own impressive chakra limit and his almost super-regenative healing ability, Naruto had the capability of doing multiple S-rank missions back-to-back.

Since the start of the shinobi war, Oni was being more and more relied on to do S-rank missions, important missions that could potentially help with the war. The pressure was unbelievable, and missions even more so. If it weren't for the Kyuubi's chakra, he would be a mess of scars and missing limbs right now.

He suppose that he could tell somebody. But to ask the Hokage-sama for a break was suicidal at best, and nobody would really believe him over the Godaime Hokage.

Naruto stopped dead in the hallway, closing his eyes. And the ones that would believe him…

(_"Naruto-baka!" Sakura growled, a fist held threateningly in front of my face. "Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!"_

"_But Sakura-chan! How could you side with a bastard like him?!"_

"_NARUTO!"_

"_Ow! Ow-hey, wa-wait a second Sakura-chan! I'm sor-HEY, WHAT ARE YOU SMIRKING FOR, TEME?!")_

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he cursed loudly in his head to hide the sudden aching in his chest. A sudden whirlwind of killer intent swept the hallway, freezing the people nearby, and making them stagger to the ground, breatheless and close to tears. Ignorant of the scene he just caused, Naruto stormed silently out the door, whipping it open. A few young genin screamed in surprise, but again, he ignored them.

Outside the Hokage tower, Naruto leaned heavily against a building wall with a tired sigh, letting his head drop limply to his chest.

_Forget it, Uzumaki. Now is not the time to reminisce._

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts, he had no time to daydream. Desperate for a distraction, Naruto pulled out the mission file and began to leaf through it.

MISSION RANK: S

OBJECTIVE: To obtain a medical-jutsu scroll from enemy squad. Eliminate all enemy sound-nin on sight.

ENEMY INFO:

_**LEADER - Keiji Saako - A-rank Sound Jounin. Ex-ANBU**_

Specializes in earth ninjutsu.  
Extremely speedy.  
Summoning Jutsu: Boar

_Mitsuki Namaroko - B-rank Sound Jounin_

Specializes in genjutsu and kenjutsu.  
Specializes in Bowing Dragon kenjutsu style.  
Poor taijutsu.

_8 Sound-nin chunin. _

3 (?) medical nin  
5 (?) attack support nin

_10 Sound-nin genin_

7 support nin.  
3 defense nin

OBJECTIVE LOCATION: Southern Pine Forest in Sound Country. (map provided)

Naruto mulled over the file, quickly memorizing all the information before burning the file with a simple katon jutsu. Remembering the Hokage's previous words, he adjusted the katana on his back, repositioned his ANBU mask back onto his face, and checked his supplies.

Kunai, check. Flash-bombs, check. Soldier pills, check. Twine, check. Trap supplies, check. Good, he was ready as he'll ever be. If he needed to complete this mission by tonight, he'll have to leave right now.

There were only about four ANBU Captains, who specialized in specific missions, much like the genin teams did. That did not mean that they were restricted to those certain missions, only that there was a higher chance of success with that specific mission type.

Oni was the ANBU Captain of the Extermination Squad. A rather fancy name for mass massacre. Naruto 'specialized' in killing entire armies of shinobi. To protect a certain S-class secret, he had no squad to speak of, and did missions single-handedly.

Naruto paused to scowl at his throbbing arm and to scatter the ashes with a foot before leaping across the rooftops, this time taking care to stay in the shadows.

He had more than enough stares for one day.

_**- - - - - - - - - ~WB~ - - - - - - - - - **_

The apartment had a disturbing feel of abandonment to it. The furniture was sparse and cheap. The bed was clean and looked as if nobody had slept in it in a long time. In a dark, forgotten corner was a dead plant, the leaves brown and withering and crumpling into dust. On the left in the kitchen, the faucet was leaking, dripping steady drops into the sink.

_Drip. Drip.. Drip…_

Suddenly, a bright flash outside and lightning illuminated the apartment for a brief second, smothering the rooms with creeping shadows that crawled across the walls and scratched the wood, voiceless whispers that would forever remain silent. But as soon as it came, it ended, and the blackness once again embraced the room.

_Drip… Drip… Dripdrip..dripdripdripdripdrip…._

The door slammed open with a bang. A soaking figure staggered into the apartment, dripping water and blood onto the stained carpet. He closed the door with a foot before heading into the bathroom, stripping off his ANBU armour as he went.

The Oni mask, its leering grin highlighted by the splatters of blood decorating the bone white mask, clattered onto the ground.

Now.. finally, he's not Oni, he's Naruto now. Uzumaki Naruto. He told himself that repeatedly.

Soon, the sound of the water from the shower pounding down against the tiled bathroom floor joined in with the chorus of the rain outside. And as he watched the red swirl into the drain, and his blond hair, because its blonde now, not black, dripping down into his face and eyes, Naruto felt his eyes drift close.

_He used to remember a Konoha from a long time ago. _

Naruto stepped out of the shower, draping a towel around his waist as he did so, and went over to the sink. Ice cold water shot out of the tap, and he splashed it over his face. He looked up into his reflection on the mirror side.

_This Konoha was different. The people were lively, instead of downtrodden and depressed. The weather never failed to be sunny all year round. It was calm, and peaceful. And in this Konoha, there were three friends, bonded by hardship, who were trained under an eccentric sensei. It seemed like something out of a dream, like an adventure. _

Bloodshot eyes stared back him, before the identical orbs looked up to the painfully bright blonde spiky hair that now adorned his head. He ran a head through the damp locks. With his limited pay, he only had enough to buy the kind of black hair dye that was washable in water. It was annoying to do every day, and he had to watch out for suiton jutsu, but hey, what could he do?

_But then, one day, everything changed. _

_The blue eyed boy had died, tearing the rest of them apart. _

Noting the time, Naruto tiredly opened the mirror cabinet, and took out three similar, small bottles. He popped them open before gingerly shaking them each out onto his hand. Five colourful pills spilled out onto his palm. He swallowed them dry.

_The eccentric sensei wasn't eccentric anymore. A year after the team's falling out, he rejoined ANBU. _

Casting around for the least bloodstained clothes he could find, Naruto changed into simple ANBU standard pants and a black t-shirt. It was a good thing most of his clothes were black, or else he would've had to go to the cleaners after every mission.

Naruto padded back into the living room, practically dragging his legs to get there.

_The pink-haired girl, the idolized crush of the blue eyed boy, fell into a depression. Days after the blue eyed boy's funeral, she quit being a shinobi. She couldn't take any more death. _

He was so tired…

_The raven haired boy, the blue eyed boy's best friend, drew into himself, silent and emotionless. The only person he actually spoke to was the pink haired girl, and even then, that was rare._

A foot away from the bed, Naruto's body suddenly seized up painfully, and he fell heavily to the floor. He writhed silently on the floor for a moment, gritting his teeth, before he relaxed. Naruto let out a sigh. It was always like this, after too much exposure to the Kyuubi's chakra, his body would seize up, and his nerves would feel as if it was on _fire_.

He shot a dry look at the bed, before letting his head drop to the floor with a thud.

_And the happy, peaceful Konoha became twisted and wrong. Because only months after the blue eyed boy's death, Konoha was thrust into another great shinobi war, lead by the new Godaime Hokage, Danzou. The remainders of team 7 was forced to struggle through their teammate's death and continue on with their lives. _

Might as well get comfortable, Naruto thought wryly, trying to ignore the stabbing pain.

_The eccentric sensei quickly got promoted to ANBU Captain. The pink-haired girl, while still afraid of death, volunteered at the hospital. And the dark haired boy followed his sensei… into the ANBU. _

Naruto closed his eyes, desperately wishing for the sleeping pills to kick in already.

_They never forgotten about that blue eyed boy. _

And finally, finally, they did. And Naruto slipped into unconsciousness, into a land mercifully free of dreams.

_But unknown to his teammates, the blue eyed boy was still alive. And he watched his friends' paths with regret in his blue, blue eyes. _

_However, the boy thought sadly, the one thing he regretted the most was how-_

**Welcome to my life. **

_-Konoha wasn't sunny anymore._

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N:**

Yeaah.

Weather-Beaten's chapter title: 'Overcast' was aptly named as a reference to the sunset in the prologue, and to how messed up Naruto's life is right now. Yes, all chapters will be named after weather patterns. Hence, the story title.

A bit of babbling random fact fun: I had debated over a long list of titles for this story. But one day, I was checking the dictionary for this one stupid word when I caught the word 'Tempest' and thought, wow what a cool sounding word. I dictionaried it, and found out that tempest meant a storm and also an 'emotional upheaval.' I thought about how cool it would be if I named a chapter after Tempest, which led to inspiration to make each chapter title named after a certain weather pattern. Thus, the story title was born! Hope this wasn't too boring.

Anyway, next chapter will be updated as soon as I finish my exams. Actually I should be studying right now lol. Anyway, I have good news everyone. I think I'm getting my Tribute to Memories muse back. I managed to write a few new paragraphs! Woo! What horrible timing though... damn exams…

As you may have noticed, WB is way different from TTM style wise. TTM uses a style where I spend aggravating time rechecking each paragraph for the fullest amount of awesomeness, while WB uses the more uh, normal writing style you see nowadays. That, and I'm too lazy to write my other style. So this style is kind of.. blunt. But there's still a hint of it every now and then.

I hope people got the overdoses of irony I used in the last scene. Cookies for all who did.

Romance is going to go slowly. Very slowly. I'd rather focus on the bloody, gorey action/adventure genre. it's the first genre for a reason folks.

Shikamaru's death was spur of the moment. I needed someone to die, and just randomly chose him. Please don't hate me for it, XD. I like him as almost as much as I like Kakashi, and that's saying something.

Thank you for all the reviews so far :) They are greatly appreciated.

~L. Syrup

PS: I hate editing typos. I checked this over twice, all because the stupid computer kept loading it wrong and uploading parts as 'aligned center' instead of 'aligned side.' It's extremely frustrating. . So just as a heads up, if you see a typo that's not a spelling/grammar typo, know that it wasn't there out of laziness...


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